Confessions of an Image Consultant

Confessions of an Image Consultant

A Day of Reckoning

The other day I had to attend a conference and wanted to wear a classic outfit. I decided to wear a fitted, conservative dress that I have owned for a couple of years. As I stepped into the dress and pulled it up…….my hips started screaming “NO” and I saw, in my mind’s eye, a large STOP sign sticking out of my hips.

By

Michele Benza

San Francisco Image Consultant

I kept pulling the dress up pass the danger zone and looked at myself in the mirror. What just happened?

For the very first time in my life I realized that my butt had grown bigger! My beloved Hugo Boss dress is now too tight. Quel dommage!

Skin Care: Face it and change it

What about my face? Lately I’ve found that I now have to work at it more and more. Never satisfied with my makeup, I jump from one foundation to the other to no foundation at all. I continue to use my skin care products twice a day, but still it seems that they too do not work as before.

As an Image Consultant, I constantly update my knowledge and skills. So, in order to benefit my clients, my readers and myself, I have decided to put my face into the hands of a professional and have set up an appointment with my esthetician to establish a skin care program for 2011.

I’ll ask her to design an entire skin care program for the coming year. I want her to tell me what skin treatments I need and when to have them and what skin care products she recommends I use. I will schedule all the treatments for the year at once; this will enable me to make a budget and to follow my new skin care regime religiously.

I’m not alone

Many of my clients have confessed to me that they do not like their bodies and don’t know how to accept themselves. So often I have heard, “I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror.” “If I could, I would change everything about my appearance.” “I have no self-esteem.” 

None of us like some of the changes age brings, myself included.

I was not thrilled to see that one of my dresses did not fit any longer.

Let the fight begin

My philosophy is to smile J about my new ‘derriere’ knowing that I will take the bull by the horns and soon enough the centimeters will melt away. I have already signed up with www.eatingfree.com. This fabulous site will put me back on the right track. It is important to understand that our metabolism changes as we age so we have to be more active to lose the same amount of calories than when we were in our 20s.

In my case, it is a hamstring injury that has kept me away from my 30-minute daily hike. Let the fight begin! I will stop comparing my new size to last year’s and I will not be nostalgic about the past.

Although, I accept that age brings new challenges, I will continue to be my best self and share the knowledge I gain first-hand, with all of you.

A la prochaine!

Michele Benza

Your Image Coach